Rise of the Spirit Warrior
by beb179
Summary: He was made to hunt his fellow mages that turned away from the Chantry. With lyrium in his skin, the Templars in his head, and forbidden powers at his disposal, he captures and kills all mages that attempt to escape the circle. But when he is conscripted into the Grey Wardens, everything he knows changes. Dragon Age is not owned by me!
1. Chapter 1

The moon rose high above the Brecillian Forest as the wind rustled the trees. The five mages quietly made their way through the underbrush their robes flowing in the breeze, each gripping a magical stave tightly and wearing similar looks of concern. One of them, a young elven woman with blond hair yelped as she stumbled over a tree branch. "Silence fool, lest we draw the attention of every foul beast in this accursed jungle" snapped one of her companions. "Now now Pierre, no need to be rude" chided the tallest mage, a bronze skinned man with silver hair pulled back and wearing Senior Enchanter robes. "My apologies Enchanter Rolund" mumbled Pierre. Rolund smiled gently at his charges. "It wont be further now till we reach the edge of the forest, then we can make camp for the night."

"Will we be able to really begin a new life in Tevinter Master Rolund? Will we really be free?" inquired the young mage that had fallen. Rolund regarded her with his dark eyes, flashing a momentary lapse of concern before relaxing into the kind smile he now bore. "Lina my dear, you know as well as I that the life of a mage is difficult. We spend our entire lives being persecuted by the Chantry and feared by our fellow man. I plan on joining the Tevinter mages and studying under them. So yes we can." Lina grinned, her ears drooping as they did when she was excited about something. She began walking ahead of the group, turning and walking backwards to speak to her fellow escapees. "I suppose anything will be better than living in the Circle" she considered. "I plan on-" Lina was suddenly blasted off her feet. She flew over her friends' heads, landing hard on the ground. Rolund backed away from the area, raising his staff. "Its a glyph of repulsion! Everyone staves out, and to me!" The group quickly drew their staffs, each looking around fearfully. "Wh-wh-who's out there?! Show yourself templar!" shouted Pierre, gripping his whitewood staff so tightly his knuckles were as white as the staff itself.

"I am no templar, maleficar scum" a voice, almost as soft as the wind uttered. Rolund mumbled an incantation under his breath and raised a spell shield around himself and his charges. His eyes darted around the dark background of the forest, straining to see anything that moved. "I, Rolund, Senior Enchanter of the Ferelden Circle of Magic, order you to show yourself at once!" The voice laughed mockingly, coldly. "You gave up that title when you defied the Chantry's laws maleficar scum. It does not move me."

Suddenly from the darkness, two eyes appeared, glowing brightly as lyrium. A tall muscular man stepped forward from the shadows. He wore a black battlemage's hood with golden glyph symbols etched into it. His armor and boots appeared to be made of drakeskin, dyed black with more golden glyph symbols. His gloves were leather, but had a glow around the hands as if they had lyrium woven into them. On his back he carried a sword of Qunari make, its blade solid at the bottom and splitting into two at the halfway mark, its edges serrated. The blue lyrium glyphs carved into the blade shone brightly in the night, giving the blade an ethereal glow. His arms, legs, and neck had long blue marks that glowed like his sword, the mark of lyrium branded into his flesh.

"Who are you?! Why do you hunt us?!" screamed Pierre as he helped Lina to her feet. The figure regarded them coldly, the lyrium in his eyes giving his gaze a surreal chill. "Do you not know me maleficar?" he asked. Rolund raised his staff. "You will not threaten these children Spirit Hunter! Your quarrel is with me alone. Let them go" The Hunter regaled the Enchanter with his ice gaze. "I do not allow apostates to escape from me. You know this well Rolund. You remember what happened to your lover when she tried to escape me." "YOU WILL NOT SPEAK OF HER!" yelled Rolund. He waved his staff and sent a lightning bolt at the hunter. He quickly drew his sword and swatted the bolt into the sky. He sent a chilling smile towards the group of runaway mages. "If you shall not go peacefully, I will be forced to slay you"

"Attack!" shouted Rolund. Two of the mages drew their staves and sent fire and ice towards the Hunter. He raised his left hand and moved it in a circular motion, the magical energies disappeared into the fade. He then sent a purple bolt of spirit energy towards the mage that cast the ice spell. It blasted him backwards, he slammed hard into a tree and crumpled to the ground. The mage who cast the fire spell swung her stave towards the hunter, launching into a much practiced routine with her stave twirling it around with all her strength trying to land a blow. The Hunter expertly parried all of her attacks with his sword. He forced her back with a counterattack, then leapt into the air, twirling into a swing. His momentum sliced her stave in half, then leaned forward as he ran her through with his sword.

He grunted as an ice shard pierced his shoulder, he turned and saw Rolund, Pierre, and Lina casting their most powerful elemental spells at him. He cast a Crushing Prison on Pierre, he screamed as the telekinetic energy crushed his ribs. He dodged a stonefist attack from Lina, rolling along the ground. He traced a glyph in the air with his sword and sent it toward Lina. The ground around her glowed blue, and she collapsed as she starting bleeding from her nose and ears. Rolund screamed in fear and anger, and slammed his staff to the ground. A blast of telekinetic energy blasted the hunter backwards. He stumbled a few steps backward, and Roland moved in. He swung his staff and caught the hunter in the stomach. He twirled again and caught him in the knee with a followup blow. As he raised his hand to perform a killing curse, the hunters arm tattoos glowed brightly as the thrust it forward into Rolund's chest. Rolund dropped his staff as the Hunter grasped his heart inside his chest. The Hunter stood up and stared into Rolunds eyes as the life drained out of him. "Find Peace at the Maker's side apostate." Rolund spit blood as his eyes clouded over. "Maker...curse...you..."


	2. Chapter 2

"Move faster! Your bladework is slow and clumsy, and the filthy mages will exploit that." The Hunter grunted as he parried Knight Commander Gregoir's blow with his shield, then lunged forward. Gregoir easily sidestepped his blade then brought the blunt end of his sword down on the Hunter's head. He collapsed in a heap at the Knight Commander's feet. Gregoir walked over to the tray of waterskins that the Tranquil servants had brought in and took a long drought. "Get up Xander. You weakness is due to your lack of commitment to the Maker." Xander rose to his feet, for the briefest moment considering blasting Gregoir with his spirit magic. Instead he stood and began practicing his sword motions, going through all 150 templar fighting forms. Gregoir watched his hunter twirl his magical sword through the air with a natural grace that he didnt have when he first started learning how to use a sword. "That is enough for today. The rest of the day is yours."

Xander walked into his living space, which once again bore the marks of magical vandalism from the other circle mages and apprentices. He shook his head, and began cleaning it up. He was used to this by now, he knew why the other mages hated him, and to be honest he couldn't really blame them. They knew he existed to hunt them when they ran from the Circle. He absently traced one of his lyrium tattoos as his mind thought about the hunt from the night before. The terror and pain in the elven mage's eyes as he drained her mana with his neutralization glyph. The moan the boy gave as he died from the crushing prison spell. The death in Rolunds eyes as he crushed his heart in his fist. He sat down wearily in front of his mirror, where the words "DIE TRAITOR SCUM" were scrawled. He put his head in his hands and wept as he always did. He wept for the mages he captured and brought back to be made tranquil. He wept for the mages he killed. He wept for himself. Oh Maker, please forgive me.

He was lying in bed staring at the ceiling when a young mage apprentice warily approached the entrance to his quarters. "P-p-p-pardon m-me ser. I-I-I w-w-w-was instruct-t-ted to b-b-bring this-s-s t-t-to y-y-you." Xander smiled as he looked at the young girl. He vaguely remembered how nervous he was when he first came to the Tower, how intimidated he was by the Senior Enchanters. "Did someone place a Stammer Hex on you my dear?" he asked kindly. The girl paled as she dropped the envelope she was carrying. "N-n-no I-i..." "Its ok," Xander said. "I can sense the hex in you. Here let me dispell it." As he raised his hand, the apprentice's eyes widened in terror and she turned and ran away. Xander sighed as he picked up the envelope the lass had dropped. It bore the seal of the First Enchanter. Irving and Gregoir had sent for him.

He walked down the Great hallway that led towards the First Enchanter's study. He passed by Irving's star pupil, a young elven mage named Alim. He was walking along with a tall brown skinned warrior clad in silver armor. Xander nodded respectfully at both, the warrior nodded back, Alim merely sneered. Xander shook his head and continued on his way. He entered the First Enchanter's study and saw that he and Gregoir were wearing similar looks of worry. "You sent for me?" Irving looked up at Xander, his eyes a mixture of pity and apprehension. "We have a situation that requires your immediate attention. One of our apprentices is accused of practicing blood magic, and is planning on working with one of the Chantry sisters to destroy his phylactery." Xander's eyes widened. "So you want me to eliminate him now?" "No" said Irving. "You will follow them and get proof of their plot and then deal with them accordingly." "Very well Knight Commander. I shall go and prepare myself for the hunt." He bowed to both the Knight Commander and the First Enchanter and strode out of the room.

Irving watched sadly as his former pupil walked out of the room. His heart ached as he remembered the way the boy had screamed and cried as the Templars marked his skin with pure lyrium, how the boys voice was colder than he had ever heard it the night he swore fealty to the Chantry and the Templars to hunt mages that ran away, the dead look in his eyes that he had when he brought his first captives back to the circle from his first Hunt. He sighed as he contemplated his plan. Irving knew that sacrifices had to be made in order for the mages to have a future. He just hoped that Duncan would make the choice that he needed him to.


	3. Chapter 3

"I will go and retrieve this rod." Xander's eyes widened as he turned over the conversation he just heard in his mind. Jowan and Lily, the newest Chantry initiate had convinced Irvings apprentice Alim to help them break into the phylactery chamber and destroy his phylactery. He couldn't believe that Alim would go through with this, considering that he had just recently passed his Harrowing. He shook his head as he slipped out of the Chantry and went back to his quarters. He picked up his longsword and examined it. He had seen Qunari Arishoks carrying much bigger versions of swords that looked like his, and knew that they were created for use against the mages the Qunari called Saarebas. The runes carved into it gleamed in the candlelight. He knew that they offered some protection against hostile magic. His heart sank as he saw the dried blood at the end from the mage girl he killed the night before. He knew in his head that what he was doing was right, that he was doing the Maker's work, but his heart always made him wonder. Greagoir had struck him the first time he had asked this question and berated him for not having strong enough faith. Whenever he brought a mage back alive, Greagoir and the other templars would demand to know why he didnt kill them outright. Xander shook his head, and put on his armaments. He placed his sword in the sheath on his back and glanced over at his staff. It was a dark ebony staff with lyrium woven into it, it had taken the tranquil a fortnight just to perfect the amount of lyrium within the wood without compromising the sturdiness. He personally preferred the staff he had used as an apprentice, but it had been taken from him when he received his lyrium markings and swore his Hunter Fealty. He strode out of his room and headed straight for the basement.

As he made his way down the hallway, sounds of battle reached his ears. He hurried forward and came across a strange sight, suits of armor lay on the ground bearing marks of magical damage. He could sense the traces of offensive spells used, although he wasn't advanced enough to ascertain exactly which spells were cast. He couldnt sense any traces of demonic possession, so he had no idea why Jowan and Alim would attack statues of armor. He continued on, stepping over bodies of Deepstalkers, some of them slain by magic, others by a blade. He finally reached the phylactery chamber through a hole blasted through the wall of the basement vault where he saw Alim strike down a suit of armor wielding a mace with a stonefist spell. Jowan turned and saw Xander. "Lim its the Hunter!" Alim spun his staff behind him as he turned to face him. "Jowan, take Lily and get the hell out of here!" "No Lim, I'll fight him with you!" Jowan gripped his staff tightly in his hand, his phylactery in his trembling left hand. Lily stepped forward armed with a dagger and shield. Alim's ears lowered as his eyes narrowed. "Jowan get out of here now. I'll deal with this traitor." Jowan grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her with him as he fled the phylactery chamber. Xander and Alim faced each other, malice in their eyes. "You will not deny my friend his freedom Hunter scum" growled Alim as he flicked his staff. A fireball surged forward, burning with heat. Xander quickly cast a spell shield around himself. The force of the fireball colliding with the shield knocked him off his feet, but the fireball disappeared into the fade. He crashed into the floor but rolled backwards with the momentum and stood up as he unsheathed his sword. Alim twirled his staff and sent a flurry of ice shards at Xander. He swung his sword and sliced three of them out of the air, but one pierced his left leg. Alim moved in and caught Xander with a follow up blow to the wounded leg. He buckled down to one knee, and Alim swung his staff again, but the blow aiming for the Hunter's head was parried by his sword. He blasted Alim with a jagged purple spirit bolt and his body corkscrewed as he flew through the air. Xander grunted as he pulled the ice shard from his leg and used a minor healing spell to close the wound.

Alim shakily got to his feet, leaning on his staff for support. He touched the back of his head where it had slammed against the stone wall, his fingers came back sticky with blood. His rage blossomed and he fired a blast of electrical energy. Xander raised his sword and blocked the attack from hitting his body, straining to hold it back as Alim pressed the attack and increased the force. The sword grew hot under the spell, and Xander's fingers were burning under the white-hot heat. His lyrium tattoos glowed as he tapped into their powers, and lowered his sword as he phased his body so that the spell passed through him harmlessly. Alims eyes widened as he saw Xander phase back into a solid form. He then bared his teeth as he sent another blast of lightning in his direction. Xander ducked, his hair standing on end as the electricity passed over him. He brought his hands together and sent an orb of arcane energy at Alim. It hit him in the midsection, and he fell to his knees as the curse began to work. Alim began to convulse, and then fell unconscious. Xander quickly dispelled the Walking Bomb curse he cast before it killed the young elf, then cast a force field on him so that he would be paralyzed. He sheathed his sword and quickly hurried back up to the main floor.

He got there just in time to see Jowan activate his blood magic and cast a spell to take down Irving, Greagoir, and a contingent of templars. He drew his sword, but before he could cast a spell, Jowan sent a wicked blood spell at him that knocked him down. Xander staggered back to his feet as Jowan ran out of the hall. Irving and Greagoir helped him get steady and Greagoir demanded that Lily be brought before him. She wept as Gregoir condemned her for aiding a blood mage and sentenced her to Aeonar.. Gregoir then turned his attention to Xander, berating him for allowing Jowan to escape. As he raised his hand to strike him, a hand grabbed it from behind. "Knight Commander, if I may" said the silver clad warrior that Xander saw earlier. "I'm not only looking for mages to join the king's army, I'm also recruiting for the Grey Wardens. Irving spoke highly of this mage and I hereby conscript him into the Grey Wardens." Gregoir's eyes popped out of his head as he stared at Irving and snatched his hand out of the Warden's grip. "YOU DID WHAT?!" he bellowed. "You will not have my Hunter, his sacred duties must be done!" Xander looked at the Warden, who was eyeing Greagoir with a slight smirk. "The right of conscription states otherwise Knight Commander. Worse things plague this world than rougue mages, and you know this. This mage is needed." Irving's arms folded across his chest "He has served the Circle well. Do we not reward dedication? Because of him we have a rogue initiate and conspirator captured." Gregoir looked at the Warden, at Irving, and at Xander. "Do not think I dont see through your plan Irving" he snarled. "You think by making the Hunter a Warden that it will make your lives easier. But rest assured that we will find another hunter amongst the apprentices." He looked at Xander with disgust. "You're a Warden now boy. Get out of my tower and my sight. Irving we shall discuss your part in this later" He motioned to his Templars and they stomped out of the hall. Xander looked at Irving. "So am I to be a Grey Warden?" "Yes child. Be grateful. Few have the opportunity that you do. Do not waste it." Irving nodded respectfully to both men and left the hall. Xander turned to face the Warden warrior. "Thank you ser. My name is Xander, and I am sworn to your service"

"Hello Xander. I am Duncan, the Warden Commander of Ferelden. Come, your new life awaits."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** **Thank you to all you beautiful people who have been reading my story! Please feel free to leave a review, it'll help me write better stories for you guys!**

Duncan watched his newest recruit out of the corner of his eyes as they made their way to Ostagar. The lyrium made the boy's eyes seem cold, but he could see the sadness in them. "Tell me of yourself, lad", he inquired. "There isnt much to tell ser. I am a Hunter of the Chantry. I exist to capture or kill blood mages or mages that have turned away from the Maker." said Xander in a monotone practiced cadence. Duncan raised an eyebrow as he surveyed him. "And the lyrium? I thought it killed mages to be exposed to that." Xander absently tranced one of the markings on his left arm with his finger. "It usually does. This isnt pure lyrium, its lyrium that has been magically treated so that it could be branded into my flesh. It enhances my spells and helps me detect magic." Duncan nodded, impressed at the power that Xander possessed. He knew of the dangers that darkspawn emmisaries represented, he himself had recently gotten over a grevious injury from an emissary curse. He hoped that his spells would be equally effective against darkspawn as it was against mages.

They made camp about a day's journey away from Ostagar outside of a small village that had already been abandoned in fear of the advancing horde. Xander twirled his new mahogany Hunter stave that had been fitted with a lyrium enchanted blade on one end of it, and a lyrium crystal on the other end. The staff fired bolts of pure sprit energy, which suited him just fine. He could use his lyrium in his gloves and his skin to increase their power if he needed an extra boost, and the blade was enchanted to block magic attacks just like his sword was, he saw familiar runes carved into the face of the blade, and the edge was serrated. The staff was called MageBinder, because the magical blade secreted a form of Magebane poison, which drained a mage of their mana when it was introduced to their system. Xander found himself liking MageBinder more and more as he swung it around, testing its power. It was perfectly balanced, which suited his preferred up close and personal fluid fighting style. As he twirled it around his head, he slammed it on the ground and sent a wave of Spirit energy along the ground. The wave slammed into a tree and destroyed it, bits of leaves of wood flew about as Xander smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. The darkspawn would never even know what hit them.

They arrived in Ostagar as the sun was at the highest point in the sky the next day. Duncan had been listening to Xander tell him about his life in the tower as they walked down the Imperial Highway, when they looked up and saw a tall man in glistening golden armor, accompanied by two heavily armored guards with the royal crest on their shields. Duncan's eyes widened as he walked up to the man and bowed. "Your Majesty, I wasnt expecting a.." "A royal welcome?"asked the man in golden armor with a warm boyish smile on his face. "Really, I was beginning to think you'd miss all the fun." "Not if I could help it your majesty" said Duncan. "Glorious!" said the King. "I trust this is your new recruit?" "Yes your majesty. King Caillan, this is." "Now Duncan, no need to be formal, we'll be shedding blood together after all. Ho there friend, might I know your name?" Xander looked up into the young King's face. He bowed deeply. "I am Xander your majesty." "Well met! I understand you hail from the Circle. I trust you have some spells to help us in the upcoming battle?" "I will do all I can, of course." "Excellent excellent! Well with all the Grey Wardens at our side, we shall probably beat this Blight today! Now Loghain wishes to bore me with endless talk of strategy. Not sure why we need strategy, with the Wardens at our side! It'll be just like in the tales!" Caillan bounded away towards the royal tents. Duncan watched him walk away, a grim look on his face. "You seem concerned, Commander Duncan." noted Xander. "Do you not share the king's enthusiasm?" "I do not. I fear the king thinks our presence alone makes him invulnerable. At any rate we must proceed with the joining without delay. Find Alistair and the other recruits in the camp and meet me at the Warden tent." Duncan strode away, his sword and dagger clinking gently against his armor as he walked. Although they had only spent three days together, Xander had grown to respect Duncan a great deal. He walked through the camp, taking note of all the people in it. He saw some mages, his senses instantly telling him they were in the fade. He saw one of the Senior Enchanters, an older human woman with her gray hair in a tight bun. She made his gaze and glared coldly for a few seconds before she turned her attention elsewhere. He sighed as he made his way towards the rear of the camp, where he saw one another one of the Senior Enchanters, a transplant from the Circle in Antiva, arguing with a young man with curly brown hair. "Tell the revered mother I will not be harassed in such a manner!" the Enchanter hissed. "Yes, I was harassing you by simply delivering a message." "ENOUGH! I shall speak to the woman if its what she wants." The Enchanter stormed away and his eyes fell on Xander. "Ugh, as if my day couldnt get any worse, they brought the filthy traitor here. Out of my way fool!" His robes whipped behind him as he walked away.

"You know, one thing I like about the Blight is how it brings people together" quipped the young man. Xander chuckled. "As long as they let me know when we gather around a fire and sing friendship and harmony songs so I can stop vomiting long enough to join in" he said. The young man threw his head back and laughed loudly. Xander felt a surge of triumph, no one had ever laughed at his jokes before. The young man was now staring curiously at the long blue glowing lines that decorated Xander's skin. He smiled grimly "Yes, thats lyrium in my skin in case you were wondering Templar" The man's eyes widened "How did you know?" Xander looked meaningfully at the mans hand that was twitching slightly. "Still havent kicked the habit, huh?" The man smiled knowingly. "Duncan said our new recruit was from the Circle, but he never said he was a Hunter. Pleased to meet you, Im Alistair."


End file.
